October 08, 2013

ITC Hands Apple a Major Victory over Samsung

According to Obama's designee, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, said in a statement today that "After carefully weighing policy considerations, including the impact on consumers and competition, advice from agencies, and information from interested parties, I have decided to allow" the import ban to proceed.

Bloomberg reports that Samsung must stop importing some models of smartphones and tablet computers into the U.S. after President Barack Obama's administration upheld a ban won by Apple in a patent-infringement dispute.

The import ban is on a limited number of products. The ITC said newer models by Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung had worked around two Apple patents, which covered a multitouch feature and one for a sensor for headphone jacks.

"Forcing Samsung to change its design is a victory for Apple," reports Bloomberg. The iPhone maker says it keeps and entices new customers by contrasting the look and ease of its devices to other manufacturers, like Samsung or HTC. In appeals-court arguments, Apple accused Samsung of simply putting a new name on some handsets without making any changes.

The Korean company argued the ban ordered by the U.S. International Trade Commission should be overturned on public policy grounds, especially since a similar order it won against Apple's iPhone 4S was thwarted by a presidential veto in August.

Samsung can now seek a delay in the ban from a U.S. appeals court that will consider the entire case on legal grounds.The Korean Press has yet to respond to this latest news.

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